What to Expect From Portlandia’s Many Season-Three Guest Stars

The third season of Portlandia, which premieres tonight at 10 p.m. on IFC, features more guest stars than ever — and we’ve been tracking them for quite some time, whether at our set visit or at parties. Here is a list of the upcoming cameos that we’ve learned about from the featured players as well as show co-creator Jonathan Krisel.

Chloë SevignyShe becomes Fred and Carrie’s new tagalong roommate (and love interest), Alexandra.”Chloë kind of lingers,” Krisel says. “She’s a sleeper cell for a long time, and then she gets in a love triangle between her and the main cast members. We don’t address the sexuality of it, but it just exists. It’s an androgynous show.”

Rose ByrneShe goes on a date with Fred, “a very long protracted date,” Byrne tells us. “The whole setup is awkward, and it’s a disaster from the beginning, and then it just keeps going on and on. I was trying really hard not to laugh and just keep myself together! I’m terrible.”

Roseanne BarrShe is hired from a temp agency to become the interim mayor at City Hall because the actual mayor (Kyle MacLachlan) goes off the grid. “I could never in my wildest dreams anticipate this direction,” MacLachlan says. “The mayor slips far, far from reality this season in such a fun way. He’s on a farm somewhere.” And indeed, he even looks vaguely Amish, according to the actor’s Twitpic. “All the hair and stuff, we decided to do the beard but not the mustache, so the beard just expands in a funny, inappropriate way.”

Bill HaderHe plays an Australian called the Bird Man staying at Fred and Nance’s bed-and-breakfast. “The lights go out, and during the blackout, he takes the other people on a spiritual walkabout,” Hader tells us. “I don’t think they heard the voice I was going to use until I did my first take, and I thought they would say, ‘Oh, cut! It’s too big!’ No one said anything, so I kept doing it.”

J. Mascisfrom Dinosaur Jr. and members of the Dirty ProjectorsThey team up with Fred and Carrie for a battle of the most gentle bands. “It’s almost inaudible,” said the DP’s David Longstreth. “But it has more to do with just volume. It also has to do with the attitude you’re projecting, so the least competitive is the one who wins the competition. It’s a very Portland set of mental gymnastics.”

MTV alumni Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren, and Matt PinfieldIn the episode airing tonight, the trio plans a takeover of their old network, aiming to free it from the shackles of reality TV. Vulture was on set as they pretend-tried to bring back the music.